


Beyond the White Walls

by Louroalka



Category: Lego Ninjago, Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), The Hollow (Cartoon), Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Blood, Gay Male Character, Gen, Mild Gore, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Troll Jim Lake Jr.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:47:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24111535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Louroalka/pseuds/Louroalka
Summary: It was cold. Really cold.And hard. Yeah, hard too.My eyes remained shut. My limbs burned as I slowly moved my right arm, lifting it over my half opened eyes, blocking most of the prying light.Something wasn't right. Why were we taken here? Who put us here? And...for what purpose?---A Hollow/Trollhunters fanfiction that no one has asked for. Maybe with a hint of Ninjago. Yeah. I'm happy to take suggestions in the comments!
Relationships: Adam & Kai & Mira (The Hollow)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	1. The building

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tragicbug](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tragicbug/gifts).



**Adam's POV.**

"Thanks Kai!" I called.

"No problem," answered the fire-wielding kid, who twirled a wrench with one finger. "Just needed to adjust the cables of this thing." He added in a smug voice.

Mira chuckled besides me. "Acting smart again, huh?" She asked, revving the engines of her newly fixed red motorcycle, and smiling, satisfied, when the engines roared like a great beast to life, spurting out a bit of motor oil in Kai's face. Kai yelped and scrambled back, shutting the panel, and spitting and coughing out the slimy, inky black substance. 

"MIRA! Can't you be a little more patient?" He grumbled.

"But you're done, right?" 

"Eh, true." replied Kai, shrugging. "Well, now that THAT's out of the way, imma go back home and"-he let out a rather loud yawn-"get some of my beauty sleep."

"'Beauty', really?" I questioned, smirking. Kai stuck out his tongue, then hopped on his hoverboard and zipped back to his mansion. 

A hand tapped my shoulder, and I turned to Mira. She pointed to a small, growing white spot in the horizon, and was quickly approaching us. I squinted, and saw that the light belonged to the headlights of two large, black trucks, which sped towards us. There was a small symbol emblazoned on its side, but it was getting too dark to notice anything special about it.

"So..." I started, my eyes not leaving the twin trucks, which seemed to be coming faster and faster with every second, "Trucks or trouble?"

"I'll pick the latter," Mira replied, tossing me her spare helmet, which I quickly clipped on. She put on hers, which was dark purple, and hopped on her motorcycle. I scrambled on behind her, and barely had enough time to grab hold of her shoulders before she put the pedal to the metal and zipped off. I watched the trucks, which were now close enough for me to see the drivers, and saw that the people inside were wearing some kind of army uniform, and that odd-looking masks covered their faces. When Mira turned a corner, the trucks turned a corner. 

"Definitely following us!" I yelled over to her, and she just simply cried, "Hold on!" before screeching to a stop, then speeding off into a narrow alleyway that I haven't known before. The trucks, which couldn't follow us in from there, rumbled to a stop, blocking off the entrance. A cement wall rose from either sides of us, plastered with long-forgotten posters of movies and stars. A rat barely had enough time to leap out of the way when we sped past.

"The Exit is right-oh no," Mira breathed, when she saw that the exits had also been blocked by another truck. The truck doors opened eerily simultaneously, and armed soldiers marched down in an orderly fashion. They were wearing typical army camouflage, but with a small symbol on their chest that I couldn't recognize. Each one of them were holding oddly-shaped rifles.

"Attention! You are asked to come with us quietly, or we'll simply do it the hard way." called a significantly larger soldier with a spiked, dark green mohawk.

I scanned the walls. A plan was forming in my head.

"Do we have a choice?" I asked, then, scooping Mira up, bridal style, earning a surprised "ADAM?!" before I leapt high above the soldiers, planting my feet on the side of the cement wall before pushing off, Mira clinging to my neck. The soldiers reacted, and began shooting. The rifles, instead of bullets, flung nets and ropes, but that simply made trying to escape much harder. I landed on the other wall and jumped, tucking into a ball and doing a flip in the air, making myself a smaller target. Mira shouted out a surprising amount of colourful language before we were almost to the top. The soldiers' aim seemed to be getting better, nets missing me by an inch or two, aiming at my legs and arms.

I felt a sharp tug and saw a weighted rope caught onto my legs, tying them together. Yelling, we both fell, and landed in a heap on the floor. I hit my head, and the world spun out of view.

Everything became dark.

\-----

A faint ringing coursed through my ears. 

I could hear faint breathing. Was it mine? Yes, it was. Probably a good sign.

It was cold. Not as cold as the arctic, but still cold enough to bother me. And hard. Yeah, hard too.

My eyes remained shut. My limbs burned as I slowly moved my right arm, lifting it over my half opened eyes, blocking most of the blinding, prying light. 

Groaning, I sat up, wincing as I moved my stiffened fingers. My eyes cleared, and I found myself to be sitting, alone, in the middle of a windowless, white brick room, a single blinding light shining from above. The floor was hard cement, so there was no digging my way out of here. There was only one door-but even that was reinforced with an odd type of metal I couldn't recognize.

I looked around, my dark eyes scanning for simple vents-and my attempts proved futile. Either they were hidden ridiculously well or they just simply weren't there at all. 

"Where am I?" I asked quietly, to myself, as I ran my hand along the steel on the door, trying to make some sense of it. My head jolted awake when a thought crossed my mind. "MIRA?" I yelled, looking around.

No answer. 

_The door is probably soundproofed,_ I thought, then gave it a sharp kick. Nothing happened. 

After a few minutes, and when I was finally beginning to lose my mind, two guards entered the room. One of them grabbed on to my arms, while the other cleared his throat.

"Subject A-3, you were asked to be brought before the Master," growled the soldier, in a low, raspy voice. I winced, and puzzled over what A-3 might be before thinking that they must mean **me**. 

"I have a name," I stated, before the soldier holding me nudged me to be quiet. 

The two of them dragged me out of my cell, talking and arguing with each other, while I took in my surroundings, trying to make sense of where I was and the endlessly long and winding corridors of the building. People in white lab coats walked past, scribbling something down or frantically chasing after robots. We walked past a large tank, where a dragon-like creature was trapped in some sort of suspended animation, its pale white scales pockmarked with scars and wounds, its blue eyes twitching and glaring, its great maw twisted open to reveal razor-sharp teeth at the lab workers who moved around, plucking its scales and feathers and jotting down notes. 

There were other strange creatures, and we passed through another lab room where both soldiers and scientists stood around in a circle, and I could hear the frantic tugging and clanking of chains and shrill screams. I flinched at the ear-splitting noise, but still felt relief at the screams not being Mira's.

 _I wonder if Kai was caught too?_ I pondered silently, as the guards brought me to a large room.

The room was huge-twenty fully grown elephants might have fit in it-and a series of fancy lights lit up the room. There was a red carpet laid on the black marble floor, and the carpet led to an elaborately carved wooden chair and desk, like an unnaturally fancy reception room. The desk was lit with a strange lamp, carved of black stone and shaped like several clawed talons holding onto a small glass orb, inside flickered an unsettling lilac flame. The fire itself seemed unnatural, dancing around the orb, leaping from one surface to another.

The two guards forced me to kneel, and I shot them a glare. 

On the chair sat a man, but even him did not look natural. He had pale skin and black hair, combed neatly. He was wearing a black tuxedo, complete with a black bow tie. His hands, contrary to his skin, were covered in black scales, and his long fingers tipped with dark, sharpened claws. The man smiled, and his canines were naturally long. But the most unsettling feature on him was his eyes. They were red, like the colour of cherries and blood, and slitted, like a serpent's. 

The man took several steps down, walking with a slight swagger in his step towards me until he was about a foot away from where I was kneeling. He held out his right hand-talon? no idea-and some sort of dark smoke swirled around his fingertips. The tendrils of smoke curled around, twisting and stretching, until it formed a kind of staff made with black rocks.

"Who are you?" I asked, and one of the guards jabbed the tip of his gun into my back. It didn't hurt as much as it would without my increased endurance, it still got the message through that I should shut up.

The man just simply laughed, his head tilted backwards slightly. "Names do not have much meaning in this place, A-3," he chuckled, his voice seeming scratchy and ragged, like a blade on a whetstone. "But you may call me Garmadon."

"Where is this place? Where's Mira?" I questioned, and I struggled as the guards from either side, as if under a silent command, moved around in unison, tying each of my wrists with thick rope, then tying the ends to deliberately located pegs on either side of me. Garmadon made a small circular motion with a finger, and the guards hurried out the door, slamming it shut.

My breathing quickened, and my eyes searched the room for any escape route, and I tugged and strained at the ropes. Thanks to my increased strength, it was slowly giving way, but it would still take some time. Too much time from what little of it I had.

His red eyes glinted, and he shoved his staff into my chest. _LITERALLY._

First I didn't feel anything, my brain trying to analyze what just happened, and how the staff managed to phase right through my body. Then came the pain. The staff was freezing cold, yet scorching hot-burning and spreading across my chest and back. I screamed, jerking around and screeching out curses in about thirty different ways. I _hurt_ like _hell_ and Garmadon knew it hurt. He smirked, watching me writhe and yell in pain, tears welling up in my eyes but refusing to pour them out in front of the devil of a man. He shoved the staff deeper, twisting it into my stomach, then tensed as if he were waiting for something, his claws gripping the black stone. 

_Why does it hurt so much!!_ I panicked, shivering and letting out another scream when he held the staff there, pain searing up and around my torso. _WHY WASN'T THERE ANY BLOOD-!_

Garmadon let out a growl, then, frustrated, pulled his staff back out, slamming it back to the ground. I shuddered, gasping and taking in deep, hoarse breaths from all my yelling. He turned his goddamned fiery attention to me, claws curling inward into fists. 

"How?" he asked, tone almost gentle if it were not the look of murder in his eyes.

"What...do you mean 'how'?" I snapped back, wheezing slightly, still tugging at the stupid ropes again. 

"Boy," he smiled through gritted teeth. _So playing nice, huh?_ I thought bitterly, but didn't dare say it out loud. Not now, when Garmadon had a weapon more powerful, if not more dangerous, than the Ishibo on his side. "How do you manage to protect your power when I tried to take it from you?"

"You tried to take it from me?!" I half yelled, raising my eyebrows. _That was possible?_ "And, no, I don't know how I stop it, although I'm glad it does."

Garmadon slammed the staff onto the ground twice, sending two loud _booms_ echoing throughout the room. The guards slammed open the door at the signal and marched in in an orderly fashion. Two latched on to my arms and another pair untied my wrists. 

"He is useless," Garmadon growled, giving me a sharp jab in the shoulder. "Feed him to J-6."

Some of the guards paused. Others exchanged glances. "Uhm...boss, isn't that a bit harsh to a 16 year old?"

They were acting like how the Akki Monks had acted whenever Katsuro's name was mentioned. Which was a bad thing. I was dragged to my feet.

"You and you there," grumbled Garmadon in a half-caring tone, pointing at the two guards that held onto me, "Take him to J-6. Do not question me."

The soldiers whimpered something, and proceeded dragging me away from the fancy room. With me giving little resistance. Whatever or whoever this J-6 was, he would take it and try to not get killed. We passed by large, whitewashed corridors with little windows. Scientists and other people in white lab-coats scurried around, muttering and talking. Rooms lined the corridor walls-and as we progressed deeper into the building, the rooms switched to cells, each of them with a neatly printed label on them, and a small folder attached to their front. We passed my cell-marked "A-3" with large, bold letters-and we went further in, me remaining silent while the guards talked to each other in hushed tones. 

We paused when we arrived at a once-white cell door marked with vicious claw marks and spots of rusty brown. It was marked, in the same bold letters, "J-6." One of the guards reached for the lock, then, wincing, turned to me with a sad look in his eyes. 

"I'm really sorry. Best wishes, hope you'll get torn apart fast and painlessly," he said, and his comment was interrupted by the other soldier smacking him in the face. "Dude," snarked the guard, "That was pure cringe. Let's just hope we don't get cleanup duty after the mess." 

They pushed the door open, and I quickly took in the surroundings: those familiar white brick walls, but the lights were much dimmer. We were also higher, standing on a narrow catwalk with short, steel railings. 

"Well, nice knowing you," said the snarky guard, shoving me over the edge. I yelped, the air whistling in my ears and grunting when I hit the floor on the bottom, landing on my rear. 

I heard the door slam shut, then heard the faint clicking as the lock slammed back into place, trapping me with whatever was in this dim room. I turned, inspecting the room. The room was mostly the same as mine, except a small pile of ominous bones dumped in the corner. I turned again, and my gaze met striking blue ones. I shrieked, stumbling backwards. The being snorted, before creeping out from the darker shadows into the more brighter areas. 

_The...creature was a he,_ I realized, and he certainly wasn't a human. He had blue, stone skin, and a short and thick, but groomed blackish blue mane ruffled on his head. Ivory horns sprouted from his scalp, curling in a wave like pattern behind him. He was wearing a black shirt and light brown cargo pants. He was also barefoot, and a short, blue, lionlike tail flicked lazily at me. He had a sharp jawline, lengthened, elf-like ears, and short tusks. 

The beast watched me with cautious, sky-blue eyes, and he moved to his feet, standing up. He was tall and lanky, ribs standing out against his shirt, and circled me, inspecting me up and down, in a way that would remind one of a leopard stalking its prey. 

_And I was the poor, helpless prey in this situation. The hunted._

"Who are you?" asked the beast, surprisingly, in a low voice. It wasn't deep, booming, or gravelly like I had expected-just sounded like a kid my age would.

"My...my name is Adam." I stuttered back.

He snorted, then growled, a deep rumble in the back of his throat. "Well then, Adam, are you working with them?" he asked, waving a four-fingered hand at the door, the only chance of escape.

"You mean with Garmadon? No." I replied, watching him as he continued moving, watching me with genuine interest. He sat down cross-legged a few feet from me. 

His nose twitched. "You aren't lying," he rumbled, happily, seeming pleased. "And you seem like a decent person for once." He let out an exasperated sigh. The beast eyed me, his irises flashing and glowing a brighter shade of blue. Then, took a step closer. "You're an interesting human...stay still if you want a quick death."

He pounced, claws elongating slightly as he leaped, and I shouted, sidestepping out of the way, feeling the claws barely miss my jugular. He let out an animalistic roar, springing back to his feet and slashing at me again. I ducked, tucking myself into a ball to make myself a smaller target, then rolled to a corner of the room. The beast sprang from a shadowed corner, baring his tusks and snapping his jaws, barely missing my legs as his fanged, tusked maw came snapping together a second after I ran past. I sprang up to my arms, pushing off from the ground and tackling the walls, jumping one more time, and managing to latch on to the bottom railings of the catwalk, letting out a soft cheer.

The beast paced below, his glowing blue eyes staring up at me, but not of anger or frustration, or even smugness, just...I looked over my shoulder, trying to decipher his expression. I began, slowly, climbing onto the ledge, using the sheer strength of my aching arms alone to clamber up the railing. Something heavy grabbed onto my leg, and I lost my grip, tumbling back down to the ground. He had jumped- _inhumanly high_ -and he had grabbed onto my leg, using his weight and momentum to rip me from the railing and my only hope of escape. 

I let out a shout when J-6 snagged my shoulders, throwing me belly-first to the hard cement. I growled and tried to get him off, but he placed his hand, in an almost gentle manner, on my head, holding it down. Claws dug into my shoulder blade and I winced, scared and breathing fast.

"Mira..." I mumbled, trying to use my hands and arms to get back up, but nothing worked. _Mira...I would never see her again. Or Kai, or Puddles, or my parents..._

Despair washed over me like a tidal wave, hating the feeling of being useless, pinned to the ground like a rag doll, and about to be torn apart by a creature for its dinner. J-6's claws idly traced my spine, then, asked, the strangest and oddest thing possible at the time, "Who's she?"

"Mira?" I croaked, "She...she's my friend. Taken here with me. Now I'll never see her again."

J-6 paused, as if in deep thought. Then, he laughed. His tail lashed around in a wide arc, flicking towards my direction, tapping idly on the ground. His claws gripped at my head.

"Wouldn't want you to feel the pain, do I?" he purred in my ear, although there was something he was hiding. The way he said it, instead of spite, something more like...regret? Then, he lifted my head, his fingers curling around my hair, keeping a painful grip on them, then, smashing it down onto the ground. Hard.

Black consumes my vision and the world spun out of existence. 

\-----

I faded in and out, hearing faint muttering, roaring, animalistic growling.

I would see a glimpse of the White Room then zoom out of focus.

I felt something tenderly sink into my shoulder, not enough to hurt, bleed, or leave a mark. Then I felt something drag me away, and I was aware of the familiar coolness of the cement floor. 

I drifted around, my consciousness weaving in and out of reality, just another memory floating around in the comforting darkness of...I don't even know. Sleep? Coma? Death even? In this world, I simply moved around in silence, looking around at the other debris that floated around me, like the stream flowing around a rock. Nothing in this world made any sense, the items not having any purpose, lost and ditched by people I may never know.

I grabbed a mirror, turning it around in my hands. It was cold to the touch, its reflective surface smooth and shiny, the edges filed and forged into beautiful, intricate spirals, shaped like leafy vines and roses. I looked at myself, and saw...the mirror slipped from my grasp, tumbling down towards the deeper, darker part of the abyss. I floated down after it and held onto it again. Staring at myself. It was me, but it was me from the past. Younger by a few days. Still playing the Hollow, no idea what was going to happen to himself when Vanessa would decide to cheat in the game.

A gale-like force tore my hands from the mirror, and I watched it tumble and spiral into darkness.

The world warped around me, and soon, I was groaning softly, back under the dim light of J-6's cell. I lifted a hand to my head, rubbing at my eyes as I slowly sat up. J-6 was there, sitting several feet across from me, his ears perking up and smiling slightly with his fangs and tusks. 

"Are you okay?" he asked, leaning forward slightly. I leant back, a hand to my slightly throbbing head. It wasn't fake-actually sounded like genuine concern-but I still didn't trust him.

"You...let me live?" I questioned, and he tilted his head slightly, tail flopping over. J-6 chuckled. He waved his hands, which were mismatched, and shot me a smirk. 

"If you really believe what those guys said about me, no, I don't enjoy human meat. I prefer forks, or raw steak, maybe the occasional squirrel but no, I don't like human flesh." J-6 replied, sitting down on his haunches and absentmindedly playing with a bone that has been picked clean, twirling it between his fingers and scraping softly at the ground. I gave him a quizzical look, wondering if he was lying, and J-6 sighed. "For Deya's sake-"

"No, I get it," I answered, my hands up. I relaxed for a second, then pointed at the bone he was toying with. "Then..."

"Sometimes I get hungry," he rumbled, his voice much quieter, as if filled with regret. "Trolls can't survive without a Heartstone, unless they kill and devour humans." he explained.

"So, you are a troll? You don't look like one."

"No, I am a half-troll, half-human. I used to be a human like you, but I had to turn into this"-he gestured to himself-"to save the world from eternal doom."

"Well," I breathed, "I feel for you. I'm just a digital copy of my original self. Just lines of code. But I have feelings and emotions, and can think like myself."

"That's depressing," stated J-6, before quickly saying, "I never told you my name. It's Jim."

"Jim," I repeated, getting the feel of his name in my mouth. It was a humanlike name, not something that screamed mythical like his body, and it made me feel safer around him.

I watched, still cautious of the half-troll as he moved around, getting up from his position, his feet barely making any sound against the cement floor as he prowled, moving over to the pile of bones in the corner of the room. Jim picked up a femur and I cringed as a sickening crunch could be heard as he snapped it effortlessly between his jaws. He licked his lips, and brought something over to where I was sitting. His playful, yet murderous gaze he held to the shadows vanished, replaced by concern and genuine happiness, even a hint of mischief. He was holding something in his hands. He grimaced, then muttered, "I'm really sorry Adam," before he threw the bloody, slimy thing into my shoulder.

I stilled, my eyes trying their best to _NOTLOOKNOTLOOKDON'T YOU DARE FREAKING LOOK-_ at the warm, drippy thing that had smeared itself all over my skin and a bit of my shirt before it fell with a _plop_ on the floor besides me. I gave Jim a look, and he snickered as I scooted over, turning away from that...thing. It looked like an organ of some sort.

"How do you feel?" he asked, snorting a little as he tried covering his mouth, then, failing, began giggling and chuckling.

"I feel like I had been sprayed with slimy barbecue sauce and set in front of Devil Dogs." I muttered back, feeling both physically and mentally grossed out. I groaned as I felt something warm and sticky trickle down my neck. "Okay, what the Hollow was that for?"

"Acts have to go with props and costumes, no?" rumbled Jim, inspecting me with those sky-blue eyes. "What's 'the Hollow'?"

"A video game I was trapped in..." I answered, idly tracing the spiral, the symbol of the Hollow, on my shirt. 

"Huh," was the only thing Jim said before scratching the broken, sharp part of the bone into a wall. I stood up and walked over, inspecting the series of marks scrawled here and there, labeled in a language that I don't think existed. _It was a map of the building,_ I realized, and saw several marked cells, rooms, and dark brown 'x's marked here and there. 

"I've escaped...more than five times by now," Jim explained, then added, "and all five times I've been captured and...put down. It's like the Darklands but not exactly. Last time I checked, which was yesterday, They were holding five of us, including you and probably Mira, and one had died."

I cringed. "Died?"

"Did you not hear me?"


	2. Escaping the building

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out of the frying pan, into the fire.  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> If you do not enjoy crossovers, don't read. There will be a lot more in the future, but for now I'll keep them small.

**Adam's POV**

The plan was simple. 

...as simple as it could be, anyways.

Jim would escape through the way he always had-the vents. Either Garmadon was stupid enough to not trigger them with something, or the knuckleheads still couldn't figure out how Jim had managed to slip out under their noses about 5 times. I would follow after him, and set up a distraction-gee, I wonder how?-and destroy all the cameras I could find. Our goal was simple as our plan was, which was to NOT set off the alarm for as long as possible, get the hell out of this place, and try to find a way to get home. 

And stop Garmadon while we were at that. 

Jim let out a low growl, muttering something in possibly gibberish, as his fingers nimbly fiddled with the ventilation gate. It swung open a few seconds later, and he slipped out. We had chosen our time wisely-about the time when the guards would be switching posts, and where most of the scientists would have gone back to their dwellings. The few windows let in rays of silvery moonlight, casting dark shadows everywhere. 

I ran after the half-troll, ducking into shadier corners and watching him bound off in the opposite direction. I paused for a few seconds, feeling like I was being watched. I turned, but I could only see dark shadows dancing around in the dim light, tendrils of darkness creeping along corners and walls. My chest tightened, and I decided to bolt. 

Thankfully, nothing sprung from the darkness, and I skidded around a corner, dashing off to a different corridor, whispering the vague directions Jim had given me earlier. 

"Right, fourth left, down the third corridor, and first exit-" I paused when a soft, pleading whine cut me off. I turned towards the direction, and found a large, again poorly lit room. Something prowled inside, letting out another high pitched, yet quiet whine. I recounted my memories, and realized that this was the room where the screaming had escaped from earlier yesterday. 

A shuffle and clanking of chains. Another, but more quiet, whine of despair. 

My curiosity won over my instinct, and I, very carefully, poked my head into the room. 

The creature inside was absolutely beautiful, with soft, almost glittering emerald-green scales plating its body. I was pretty sure it was a dragon. Its leathery bat-like wings were clamped shut with dark steel chains, and so was its neck, a collar tethering the creature to the wall. Scratch marks scraped across the walls around it, and burn marks scorched the once-white walls into charred black and grey. It had four long, thin limbs, beautiful feathers ruffling slightly as it lifted its head in an almost regal way, staring back into my eyes. It opened its slender mouth, revealing sharp, white fangs and a red tongue. The dragon let out a chirp, then tilted its head to the side, the feathers on its crest fluttering slightly at the movement.

"Uh...hi there," I said, slowly, taking a few cautious steps forward, unable to take my eyes off of this creature. 

She-I had a strong feeling it was a she-moved her long neck towards me, and I took in a sharp inhale. The dragon opened its mouth again, and let out a happy trill, her fierce, golden eyes not leaving me. We stayed like this for a few seconds, time seemingly standing still, before she shoved her head into my chest, purring like a cat and rubbing the side of her head against me.

I laughed, reminded of the gesture Puddles makes when he desperately wanted pets. It was like that, minus the slobber and the licks. Experimentally, I held out a hand, then gave her a scratch behind her left ear. She paused for a second, before continuing on. I gave her more rubs and scratches, until she moved away, seeming satisfied. The dragon stared, before giving a questionable rumble.

"Yeah, I should probably get going on with Jim's escape plan. But to just leave you here?" I mumbled back, before beginning to wonder what she really might have asked. If she asked something in the first place. 

Her eyes narrowed into thin slits, and she snarled, but before I could pep talk her into calming down, she lunged, knocking me over with a swipe of her long tail. It came lashing back, wrapping around my head and dragging me thrashing and yelling through her powerful tail, over to her spot, the rest of her coils wrapping around my legs and chest.

She mewled in my ear, sliding her tail out of my eyes but keeping it set firmly, yet gently around my mouth. The dragon poked my shoulder, then with a talon, pointed towards the corridor, a very human gesture. If she was a second late, I would have been discovered and recaptured by a passing night watchman. He poked his head into her cell, only to almost be decapitated by her snapping jaws.

"Shit! Chill, you overgrown snake!" He barked, before swinging his fist at the dragon, only for it to hit nothing as the dragon let out a screech and ducked. The man grumbled and walked off, down the corridor. 

Once the night watchman has been long gone, the creature turned her head towards me, crooning, as if saying, _I told you so. I did good, right?_

I pointed to my gag, and she slid her tail off of me, setting me down gently on her floor a few feet away as if handling a newborn baby. I walked over and gave her a congratulatory pet on her head, and she trilled happily. I stared at her chains, and carefully, grabbed one with my hands. I could feel her eyes on me, and she lowered her bound wings. Letting out a grunt from the strain, I tugged and twisted at the steel until it was pulled far enough for her wings to slip though. They spread to their full glory, beautiful and multicoloured, but no colour too bright.

The dragon squawked, then, staring at me rose to her hind legs, and began clapping with her forepaws. The claps were missed a lot, but for a quadrupedal animal, it was pretty impressive. She wrinkled her snout, as if wondering how weird human customs could be, but stilled when I locked my fingers around the final band around her neck, wrenching it open after a few tries. 

I placed the mangled band, panting and sweating slightly, before placing the thing to the ground. The dragon stared at the broken bonds, before giving her wings an experimental flap. the wind billowed around me, ruffling my hair. She clicked and clacked, staring at her talons, before cold grey and pale white seemed to wash over her dark green scales, and all of a sudden she wasn't there.

I let out a panicked gasp, half of wonder and amazement about how she could have teleported, and half of why she just left me here. I shrugged. _She can leave me if she wants to, I mean, who knows how long she might've stayed._ I turned and began walking out the door, thinking about the time I could've wasted before I collided into an empty space of air. A familiar soft trill came, sounding almost like laughter. Something invisible grabbed gently onto my shoulder, and slowly, the dragon's green, feathered head materialized. 

"You...you can turn invisible!" I breathed, then gave her head a hug. A soft whine came, and she lowered her neck, then stilled, as if waiting. "You want me to climb on?" I asked stupidly, and the creature tilted her head, unable to understand. 

I climbed between two shark-like fins that lined her spine, grabbing onto one of the fins in front of me, straddling her neck like a saddle. The dragon let out a warning cry, and I braced myself just as feathers fluffed up around me, and the spines seemed to get taller. She crouched, and I felt powerful muscles tense under me as her large, birdlike wings rose. White and grey flooded her scales again, and it looked as if I was sitting on thin air. 

I heard the faint rustling of feathers and felt myself being jerked forward as the dragon leapt, and she zipped around corridors, quickly, and I could feel her muscles tense and relax. Her movements and turns were absolutely beautiful, graceful like a dancers. 

I remembered the escape plan, and I tapped my fingers against the side of her neck. She slowed, then, her eyes appeared out of thin air, watching me. 

"I have a friend that I need to rescue," I said, then pointed towards the corridors with more cells in them. The dragon studied me, her glowing, golden eyes fixed onto me, before her eyes made a little bobbing motion and she sprang from her crouched position, flying through the endless whitewashed halls. I grabbed on to her spine, holding on in fear of being sent flying off, but the ride itself was amazing. It was one thing to slay a dragon-it was another thing completely to ride one.

The wind from her silent flaps whistled into my ears, and I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from laughing too loud.

After a few minutes, the creature slowed, sniffing at the walls and the cell doors. She paused in front of a door labeled:

**M-4**

...and did not hesitate to spew purple flames at the hinges, until they melted. The door began to topple, but she grabbed onto the door with her front paws, then, quietly, she dragged it over and propped it up against the wall, chirping happily. 

"Mira?" I called, then, almost immediately, got a response. 

"Adam? Is that you?" Mira, the toughest girl I had ever known, lay against a wall of her cell, yawning slightly, tear marks on her cheeks. "W-where are you?"

"I'm right here," I answered, before realizing that the spines and feathers of the she-dragon must have been hiding me as well. I gave her an acknowledging pat, and she shimmered dramatically into colour. Mira gasped, and I waved from where I was seated. The raven haired girl took several steps toward us, before gently stroking the dragon's scaly, feathered head. 

"Good girl," She said, then added, "of course I can understand you. Now what exactly is happening? And no, I'm not going to hurt him."

"We are breaking us out of here," I answered Mira, though knowing she was talking to the dragon. "And by 'we', I mean the dragon, me, and a friend."

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Adam," Mira muttered, giving the dragon well deserved scratches behind her ear-"And the dragon's name is Fern."

Mira climbed on behind me, and the dragon shot off, and I explained everything as well as I could about Jim and how we were going to escape. The dra-no, _Fern_ , chimed in the conversation with whines, trills, and quiet mewls, Mira translating whatever she says easily. 

Fern had been captured about a month ago, and was being tortured and experimented on. Her mother, Marigold, had died during an electroshock test, exploded into ash right in front of her daughter. Fern had vowed to survive, and ruin as much of their experiments and variables as she possibly could. Her species, the Dragons of Arrus, treated humans as 'clever pets that taste good when charbroiled' and that she had developed a liking to me as soon as she could smell me.

"Wait, WHAT?" I yelped, crossing my arms, and I could feel the rumble of laughter beneath me. Fern was fast, yes, but even her excellent sense of smell got us into dead ends and confusion. 

Mira giggled from behind me. "Apparently, she thinks you are adorable. Don't ask."

Fern cooed teasingly, then hissed. She flew upwards all of a sudden, high enough for our heads to brush the ceiling, and slowed, her claws clinging to the white wall on our left, her scales also turning a bleached white to match the surroundings. Someone tapped my back, and I turned. Mira was there, her eyes wide. She raised a finger to her lips, signalling me to be quiet, then, pointed at one of the doors. 

Three soldiers in uniforms lay unconscious, their bodies strewn carelessly across the floor. There was no blood, but the door that was definitely once there leant against a wall in a tattered heap. There was scuffling and sounds of drawers being opened and shut from inside. A few seconds later, Jim walked out, snickering like the gleeful idiot he was, his tail lashing behind him and accidentally smacking one of the soldiers in the face hard enough to break his bones. I relaxed. 

"Jim," I whispered, loudly enough for him to hear. 

His elven ears perked up at the sound, and the half-troll tensed, his eyes darting around. _The camouflage must be heckuva powerful,_ I thought to myself, as Jim continued pacing around in circles, trying hard to find me. "Adam? Where in Deya's grace are you? gosh dang it, I sound like Blinky now-"

"Here," I answered, and his head snapped up. Mira whispered something to Fern, and crooning, she slowly raised her head, letting her scales shimmer back into view dramatically.

"Oh," was Jim's only response before about two dozen more guards stormed the hall.

**Author's Note:**

> Also, this chapter might be a little bit short and a TAD LOT late. Sorry 'bout that.
> 
> Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated!


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